Transfer apparatus



J. w. FREE TRANSFER APPARATUS Filed Feb. 2, 192;

2 Sheets-Sheet 1- I I I r I. a

WITNESSES Fb. I7, 1925' J. W. FREE TRANSFER APPARATUS 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Feb. 2. 1923 Patented Feb. 17, 1925.

PATENT OFFICE.

JOHN W. FREE, OF WOODLAWN, PENNSYLVANIA.

TRANSFER To ll whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, JOHN W. FREE, residing at Woodlawn, in the county of Beaver and State of Pennsylvania, a citizen of the United States, have invented or discovered certain new and useful Improvements in Transfer Apparatus, of which improvements the following is a specification.

My invention relates to improvements in apparatus for transferring sheet material, and consists in improvements applicable to the mechanism which constitutes the subj ectmatter of my application for Letters Patent of the United States filed October 12, 1922, Serial No. 594,014. This mechanism is developed specifically as feed-mechanism, for feeding steel sheets one by one to a tin pot, in the course of producing what is known commercially as tin plate.

In the accompanying drawings Fig. I is a view in side elevation of a tin-pot feeding mechanism having my present improvement applied to it. Fig. II is a view in approximately horizontal section, and to larger scale, illustrating, somewhat diagrammatically, the operation of the parts in which my present invention is particularly found. Fig. III is a view in elevation of these same parts. In the drawings the mechanism in the main is illustrated in dotted lines, and those parts only wherein my present invention is found, are shown in full lines.

As shown in Fig. I, 1 is the tin pot, and 4.

is the pusher which, engaging the sheets one by one along the rear edge pushes them one by one through the pot. 2 is the bosh filled with water in which the freshly pickled sheets are introduced, being placed in. the bosh in the form of a pack S. standing approximately vertically, but inclined from the vertical somewhat, in a direction away from the tin pot. The plane in which the sheet lies in pack S is in this instance parallel to the line upon which the pusher 4 takes up the individual sheet and pushes it through the tin pot.

Between bosh 2 and tin pot I extend the upwardly arching approximately semi-circular ways 11 over which the sheets are carried one by one from the bosh to the tin pot. The downward slope of these ways 11 is magnetized, to the end that the descending sheets shall not fall, but, pushed from behind, shall advance under control and come to pbsition to be immediately engaged and APPARATUS.

Application filed. February 2, 1923. Serial No. 616,518.

carried forward by the synchronously swinging pusher 4.

The means for disengaging from the pack S the topmost sheet, and for raising it and impelling it along ways 11 from bosh 2 to tin pot 1, include a bell-crank lever 15 and two pairs of bell-crank levers 9 and 7, all swung in proper coordination to efiect the end in view. A crank shaft 3. rotating, effects proper coordinated swing of all these bell-crank levers.

IVith particular attention to bell-crank lever 15, its work arm, to which in Fig. I the reference numeral 15 is immediately applied, swings in normal operation from an approximately horizontal though somewhat downwardly inclined position from its fulcrum toward bosh 2. to the approximately vertical position in which in I it is shown to be standing. The work arms of bell-crank levers 9 swing in normal operation from sub stantially horizontal position, extending leftward from their fulcrum as shown in Fig. I, to a substantially vertical position. The work arms of the bell-crank levers 7 swing from substantially vertical position to the substantially horizontal position shown in Fig. I, in which position it will be under stood they have pushed a sheet of tin plate over ways 11 and into tin pot 1, to the point where pusher 4 engaging the sheet from be hind carries it on through the tin pot.

These several bell-crank levers are so coordinated in their ranges of swing and in their ordered succession of swing that levers 9 engage from the rear a sheet initially picked up and raised by lever15, and hav ing engaged it push it along ways 11 until at length levers 7 engage it from the rear and push it forward to the point already defined.

Returning to bell-crank lever 15 and its structure and functions, this lever carries on the end of its work arm a sleeve 20 which has a carefully and accurately limited range of sliding under gravity longitudinally of the arm. This sleeve 20 carries a pair of suction cups 24 (of. Fig. II), and when in the range of operation sleeve 20 has slid outward along the then downwardly inclined work arm of the bell-crank lever and brought cups 24 to engagement with the top most sheet of the stack S within bosh 2, subsequent operation first sets up suction within the cups, then withdraws the cups away from the stack, in approximately horizontal direction, and :then hits the cups in vertically rising curves, dragging as they rise the sheet which they have suction-ally engaged, along the rising reach of ways ll.

The suction cups 24:, it will be observed, engage the sheet near its upper end. The parts are so proportioned that when the bell-crank lever 15 has swung until its work arm has risen from approximately horizontalposition (somewhat downwardly in clined) to ap pro:-;imately vertical position. the sheet whiehin so swinging it has raised, is in position to be engaged from the rear by thework arms of levers 9.

All these matters and the operation ot the parts are fully and minutely described in my earlier application named, sufiice it here to say that my invention is applicable to transfer mechanism in which the outermost sheet of a pack is separated from the pack by being engaged upon its exposed surt'ace and drawn in a direction transverse to its superficial extent.

I come now to particular description of that piece of apparatus wherein. present invention is found. The end in view is to provide means whereby, in case two adjacent sheets in pack S stick together, so that. when one is moved it carries with it a second, this accidental bond shall be broken, andthe intended sheet alone shall be lifted. tree from bosh 2.

Referring to Fig. II it will be understood that the initial movement 0t bell crank lever 15, after it suction cups 24 have engaged the outermost sheetof pack S is a movement in substantially horizontal direction, trans-- verse to the. general direction in which the sheet'slie. and in a direction away from the pack. In this initial movement the outside sheet a of the pack is carried from its posi tion as part" of pack S tothe position indicated in Fig. II. That is to say, the movement of the lever and of the cups 24 which it carries is in a direction which, as shown in Fig. II, is upward.

The cups are so spaced and positioned that they engage the sheet at points re mote from theedges. The particular points are unimportantibut, there being two cups,

they engage on a horizontalline at points remote from the two edges about one quarter of the distance across the sheet. This is manifest. on examining Fig. Hi

My invention involves the presence. of

two abutments, oppositely placed on either sideo't the pathway ot'travel 0t cups 24' in theirv initial; essentially horizontal re traction (below vertlcal. swinging begins),

, and so placedthat they bear upon the sheet immediately engaged by the cups 24 hetore the; cups have reached the limitof their horizontal recession; so. that, in the further movementct the cups, the sheetwhich they immediately engage is flexed or bowed transversely, as. indicated in Fig. II. The sheet I; which lies next in the pack may have adhered in spots to sheet a and so have been swungaside with sheet (4. But sheet 7: not immediately engaged by the cups. Consequently when sheet a is flexed. or warped, in the manner indicated, sheet 7) by virtue of its rigidity resists such warping, and the effect is to cause sheet a to break away from sheet Z). The two sheets then will spring apart, and the sheet at whose transference is intended will be released, so that it may be drawn from the bosh, learing sheet 5 behind, to be picked up in its turn on the next cycleof operation,

Referring again to Fig. I, it will be re marked that the pack Set sheets as it stands in the bosh 2 is inclined somewhat from the vertical. This already has been mentioned. The initial action otthe cups then in drawiue the top sheet of the pack aside is to swing it more nearly to the vertical. Then. in the ensuing lifting operation, the weight ot the water between tends to strip the sheet imn'iediately, engaged, tree of the next sheet in the pack; This is explained in my earlier application. In view of what I now have disclosed it is apparent that the effect of the abutments 40 is to break adhesions between sheets particularly in their upper portions andthat then the weight of the water serves as before, to strip the sheets apart. breaking any adhesions which may exist in lower portions of th sheets.

It is desirable that the warping of the sheet immediately engaged-by the cups, as indicated in Fig. II shall'occur during the recession of the cups horizontally and the swinging oi' the sheeta free ofthe pack S. but that when the cups 24E borne by bellcrank lever 15 begin to rise, and lift with them the sheet a, the sheet shall be relieved of flexure, and so freely responsive to the littingstrain. Accordingly I make abutments 40 movable, and providemechanism whereby in the cycle operation as a whole they shall periodically advance to serve at the proper moment their-intended purpose, and, having so served, shall recede again and not otherwise interfere with the movement ot'the sheet. It remains to explain the abutn'ient moving apparatus.

The abutments 40'are formed as terminal bends upon the ends oi two rods capable of being advanced longitudinally to and "from sheet-engaging position, through stationary guides 41. These rods at their remote ends are pivoted to the work arms 42 of hellcrank levers, fulcrumed in the frame of the apparatus. The; power arms 43 of these levers are engaged by cams 44 borne by the main shaft: 3 o f'the machine. A spring may be provided, if the weight of the parts unaided is insufficient, to hold the JUN power arm of the bell-crank lever in consta'nt engagement with the cam. The shape of the cam is indicated in Fig. I, and the direction of rotation is there indicated by an arrow. And it will be understood that in consequence of the shape of the cam (a shape which I prefer) the abutments 40 will with each rotation of the shaft come gradually to the sheet-warping position indicated in Fig. II, and then recede abruptly from that position. The parts are so proportioned and coordinated that as cups 24 are receding (in upward direction, Fig. II) abutments 40 are advancing, until at length the cups come to the end of their recessive movement and are about to swing upward. Then the abutments 40 recede either by gravity or by spring tension or both, and recede immediately, entirely out of the way, leaving the sheet unwarped and freely responsive to the lifting means.

In Fig. III I show one pair of abutments 4L0 for one bosh, and, immediately adjacent, a third abutment 40, which, it will be understood, is one of a second pair, cooperating with a second bosh set side by side with and to the left of the first.

I claim as my invention:

1. In apparatus for moving sheets one by one from a pack the combination of a suction cup movable to and fro transversely of the pack, a pair of abutments arranged on either side of the suction cup and movable in unison to and fro in parallelism with it, and means for causing cup and abutments to move simultaneously in opposite directions.

2. In tin-pot feeding apparatus a bosh adapted to carry a pack of sheets resting on edge and inclined to the vertical, transversely movable means adapted to engage in its medial portion and near its upper edge the topmost sheet of the pack and having so engaged to swing it toward the vertical and a pair of abutments movable in opposite direction relative to the means first named and adapted to engage marginally and to warp the sheet swung by the means first named.

3. In tin-pot feeding apparatus the com bination of a tin pot, a bosh, and arched and substantially semi-circular ways leading from bosh to pot, a crank shaft, an oscillatory bell-crank lever linked to the crank shaft and adapted in its range of swing on its pivot to raise a sheet from the bosh and advance'it along said ways, a suction cup extensible on the work arm of the said lever, a second bell-crank lever articulated to said crank shaft and adapted to be swung by the rotation thereof, and a pair of abutments carried by said second bell-crank lever and arranged to advance and retreat on either side of the vacuum cup borne by the bell-crank lever first named, the parts so articulated that as the suction cup recedes in accord with the oscillation of the bellcrank lever first above mentioned the said abutments advance.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand.

W. L. POLLOCK, G. L. LANE. 

